17 - What Can I Do To Increase My Happiness Today?

How much of my happiness is genetic and how much can I influence?  Those are the questions we answer today. 

Transcript:

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and the science says that part of our happiness is genetic. But researchers think almost 40% of our happiness can be influenced by us.  This means, we can take actions to improve our happiness and release those happiness chemicals in our bodies so we feel happier.  That’s incredible. 

The research tells us that we are really bad at forecasting our own happiness over time.  We think that a lottery ticket will make us happier for life, but after interviewing hundreds of lottery winners, the research suggests that even becoming a millionaire overnight doesn’t increase your happiness for very long.

The fact is, we get used to stuff. 

The new car smell, it’s great for about 2 weeks and then, it’s just your car. 

So, to counteract this data, we can be proactive in our happiness.  Moments of joy and happiness throughout the day can increase happiness.  I call this, using our Intentional Margins®.  Doing something that brings you joy, lights your hair on fire.  Perhaps it’s a cup of coffee with a friend, a simple pleasure of reading in your favorite chair.  If you feel like you don’t have time for this, I invite you to organize your day with just one simple pleasure.  Perhaps it’s cranking the music in the car with your favorite song as you drive to the next thing you get to do.  

What did you do today?  Let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram